The ruling party of Bangladesh Awami League faces another flak by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) senior joint secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Friday alleged that Awami League has handed over the country’s independence and sovereignty to neighbouring India.

“Dhaka-based diplomats of a neighbouring country having good relations with the current government have visited important institutions of Bangladesh’s different forces. What does this signify?” Rizvi asked in a press conference at the party’s Naya Paltan headquarters.
“The government has jeopardized the country’s independence and sovereignty by the way of its effort to get support from a country in order to cling to the state power,” he added.
Alleging that there is an effort to make the government institutions extensions of neighbouring India, Rizvi said, “The neighbouring country is being awarded different gifts defying state norms to appease it. In exchange, Bangladesh is getting nothing.”
In reference to India’s recently imposed anti-dumping duty on Bangladeshi jute goods, the BNP leader said Bangladesh used to export six types of products to India including jute goods to minimize the trade deficit between the countries.
“Unilateral imposition of the anti-dumping duty on jute and jute goods, the export of jute and jute goods is coming to a halt since the day it was imposed on 5 January. But, no government steps are seen in this regard.”
“On the contrary,” he went on saying, “The government is facilitating transshipment of goods [through Bangladesh] of the neighbouring country building roads and highways spending crores of taka.”
Rizvi said the government allocated Tk 7.06 billion just last week for improvement of the Mongla’s Ghasiakhali river route so that “Indian products can easily be shipped through the route.”
The BNP leader alleged that the party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, is being forced to appear in the court once or twice a week only “to harass her”.
“This is a manifestation of the vengeance of the head of the government,” he observed.